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System spec aids retail revamp
This article originally appeared in the April/May 2006 issue of TileUK.
Time is money in any industry, but none more so that the retail sector, meaning a recent shopping centre overhaul required a clever and efficient tiling solution. TileUK provides the lowdown on the Frenchgate Interchange in Yorkshire...
Whenever a major shopping centre contract turns up, tile industry firms rub their hands in anticipation. After all, how many shopping centres do you know that don’t major in tile usage?
The Frenchgate Interchange in Doncaster proved no exception, with a whopping 9000sqm of area to be covered. Ardex have become accustomed to winning plenty of specifications in the shopping centre arena, and secured the deal alongside tile contractor A.Andrews & Sons (Marbles & Tiles).
The Frenchgate Interchange includes new shopping malls and a sophisticated transport interchange facility. The refurbishment of the existing Frenchgate Centre and the new Frenchgate Interchange provides Doncaster with an extensive shopping facility plus an impressive state of the art bus station and 1400 space multi-storey car park.
Refurbishment of the existing Frenchgate Centre encompassed 5500m2 of shopping malls, toilets and café area. As the centre was to remain open throughout the refurbishment process, efficient overnight working practices and total product reliability were prerequisites of the job. Having successfully specified Ardex system solutions on many previous installations, A. Andrews & Sons were confident in the knowledge that Ardex products would meet the demanding time scale and performance criteria.
The existing terrazzo tiles within the Frenchgate Centre were overlaid, with certain areas pre-smoothed using Ardex's multi-award winning latex smoothing compound Arditex. For 35 years the product has proved its reputation in the marketplace by delivering a cost effective, high performance smoothing solution in many types of commercial and domestic environments.
The new tiles were fixed using S 21 rapid hardening floor tile bedding mortar in conjunction with E 90 admixture. The inherent hardening properties of S 21 allow walkability and further work to commence after only 3 hours, thereby helping to significantly reduce downtime. The tiles were grouted using C 2 grey cement-based tile grout. Available in a range of colours, this is a versatile grout that is easy to apply and clean off and is suitable for tile joints 2mm or more in width.
Throughout the new malls, floor tiles were fixed to the prepared sub-floor using Ardex Flex S 38 flexible rapid hardening floor tile bedding mortar. A wealth of features, including excellent adhesion, pourable consistency, and 30 minutes tile adjustability time allowed solid bedding of the tiles to be easily and rapidly achieved. To fix the wall tiles X 7 G grey tile adhesive was specified. The company claims this is ideal for virtually all types of tiling applications in internal and external environments. To finish C 2 grey cement-based tile grout was used to grout the wall and floor tile joints.
"We are regular applicators of Ardex products as they combine speed, performance and product compatibility to deliver perfect results," says Dave Clough of A.Andrews & Sons. "Their unique SystemArdex approach significantly helps to minimize on-site problems and callbacks, thereby proving highly beneficial to us and, of course, the client."